Chapter: 07
Fortunately, Moon Assistant Manager sat down beside her with a delighted expression, so Eunjae was able to hide the fact that she had embarrassingly dribbled coffee all over the corner of her mouth.
While Eunjae hurriedly wiped her mouth with her sleeve, Moon Assistant Manager continued talking.
“I seriously thought he was an actor! He looks handsome even in pictures, but in person, he was really… incredibly handsome.”
“R-Really?”
“In my opinion, he must have been street-cast several times. He’s that tall and handsome… It actually seems like a waste that he didn’t become a celebrity.”
Moon Assistant Manager even clicked her tongue as she muttered with a genuinely regretful expression. She seemed to have already fallen completely for Joo Taegeon’s looks after seeing him at the company dinner.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed that the other team members felt the same way.
Eunjae answered with an awkward smile instead. No matter how many times she thought about it, it was absurd that she was the culprit who had stolen the lips of such a highly praised handsome man without permission—and that she had even been told to take responsibility for it.
If she told Moon Assistant Manager about it, there was no doubt she would look at Eunjae as if she were crazy.
“By the way… they said we’re getting a new team leader today, right? I wonder who it is. I just hope it’s not someone like Team Leader Kang, at the very least.”
“I feel the same.”
“You especially had such a hard time, Moon Assistant Manager.”
“Well, it wasn’t just me… We all had a hard time, actually.”
The two exchanged bitter smiles in mutual understanding. Whoever came as the new team leader would surely be better than Team Leader Kang. And if he were as decent as Team Leader Seo, that would be even better.
Eunjae slightly raised her head above the partition. At first, she thought the employees were whispering among themselves while pretending to work in small groups, but apparently everyone was talking about this very topic.
She took a sip of the coffee in her hand and tilted her head.
“They found someone faster than I expected, though. Didn’t they say it might take a while because there wasn’t anyone suitable for promotion?”
“Ah, well… apparently the Vice President brought him in personally.”
“The Vice President personally?”
Once again, an uncomfortable topic had been placed on the table. Eunjae flinched, and then an even more surprising piece of information followed.
“You know our competitor, right? Mt. Fitz Roy.”
The moment she heard the company name, Eunjae’s entire body stiffened.
She couldn’t help it. ‘Mt. Fitz Roy’ was the black company where she had naively joined as a young employee and had been worked to the point that her very soul had been drained out of her.
Even hearing the name after such a long time sent a chill down her spine. It was practically a devil of a company, one that had played a major role in ruining Han Eunjae’s poor physical stamina.
She trembled and asked,
“I-I know it. Why?”
“They apparently recruited a team leader who had worked there for a long time. Since the Vice President personally contacted him and brought him over, he’s obviously capable, but… I hope his personality is good too.”
“Y-Yeah.”
Who could it be?
With her face turning pale, Eunjae desperately racked her brain.
She had worked at that company for three years, but she didn’t know many people in higher positions. At the time, she had been an intern, and even after becoming a full-time employee, she had been given nothing but miscellaneous tasks, so her relationships within the company had been quite limited.
So no matter who came, she probably wouldn’t recognize him. But there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t recognize her.
If, by any chance, it were someone who remembered what she had been like at her previous company…
‘No, there’s no way. It’s already been several years.’
It had already been two years since she had moved to Kodiak Bear and started working there. Enough time had passed that everyone must have forgotten what happened back then.
She pushed the embarrassing memories far into the back of her mind and tried to remain calm.
That was when it happened.
Just as she was about to focus on her monitor again, the entrance to the office suddenly became noisy. The quiet whispers quickly turned into a loud commotion.
“Huh? The Vice President!”
Someone exclaimed softly, and Eunjae jumped up from her seat in surprise.
Only after she had raised herself completely above the partition could she see the man standing at the entrance. He was looking around as if searching for someone.
‘Gasp…’
Eunjae froze, silently gasping for breath.
Their eyes had met.
She was so shocked that she nearly hiccupped, and at the same time, everyone in Marketing Team 1 stood up all at once.
“Team Leader Seo, the Vice President is here!”
“W-What?”
Marketing Team 2 was thrown into an uproar as well, and Team Leader Seo Yumi hurriedly came running over.
Amidst all the commotion, only the Vice President, Joo Taegeon, stood there calmly, staring toward where Eunjae was standing.
“Oh, right. Assistant Manager Han, you didn’t see him yesterday, did you? I told you he was incredibly handsome. I was right, wasn’t I?”
Yes… I already knew that, actually.
Moon Assistant Manager’s face flushed as she excitedly patted Eunjae’s shoulder, who was trying to hide beneath the partition. Eunjae was shaken helplessly by the repeated pats but couldn’t bring herself to agree and remained silent.
“Everyone, I’d like your attention for a moment.”
Of course, avoiding him like that couldn’t last forever.
As if he had somehow read her desire to escape, Joo Taegeon clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention. There was no way for Eunjae to avoid looking up when he ordered everyone to focus.
Joo Taegeon carefully looked at the pale-faced Han Eunjae who had risen above the partition, then slowly raised one corner of his mouth.
To everyone else, it looked like nothing more than a relaxed smile.
To Eunjae, however, it looked like the smile of a predator that had spotted its prey.
‘Uh…’
Her fear lasted only for a moment before Eunjae’s gaze naturally shifted to the side.
A man who looked like the new team leader was standing beside Joo Taegeon.
“I’ll be working as the new team leader of Marketing Team 1. My name is Woo Seokhyun.”
The tall, neat-looking handsome man smiled as he introduced himself.
At the mention of the new team leader, everyone’s attention turned toward him. Apparently, his appearance alone had already passed their approval test, because satisfied exclamations came from among the team members.
Eunjae also stared blankly at Woo Seokhyun.
Unlike what she had feared, he was a completely unfamiliar face.
Only then did a small sense of relief rise in her chest.
“Although Team Leader Woo Seokhyun may be a little blunt, he works hard, so I hope everyone will trust him and follow his lead.”
“I look forward to working with you!”
Woo Seokhyun bowed deeply at the waist as he greeted everyone, and they all began clapping as if captivated.
Moon Assistant Manager clapped so enthusiastically that her palms turned red.
Eunjae hesitantly began to clap along, but suddenly flinched.
She had met Taegeon’s eyes again.
He was smiling and patting Seokhyun on the shoulder, but his gaze remained fixed on her.
‘Still, he must have only come to introduce the new team leader… He’ll probably leave soon, right?’
A small glimmer of hope appeared in Eunjae’s eyes.
As she watched anxiously, the employees came forward one by one to exchange brief greetings with Woo Seokhyun.
“Shall we go too?”
Moon Assistant Manager whispered and led her forward.
Eunjae trudged along with her until she stood in front of Woo Seokhyun and Joo Taegeon.
Taegeon’s intense stare was so sharp that her face practically felt like it was burning, but she forced herself to remain calm and held out her hand.
“I’m Assistant Manager Han Eunjae.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Assistant Manager Han.”
She shook hands with Woo Seokhyun and took one step back.
Then—
“I think it would be nice to have at least a simple welcome lunch for Team Leader Woo… Is everyone free for lunch today?”
Joo Taegeon smiled as he made an unexpected suggestion.
Moon Assistant Manager, who saw his smile from such a close distance, lit up and exclaimed,
“Yes, sounds great!”
“Let’s have lunch about an hour early, with both Teams 1 and 2. Team Leader Seo can properly introduce herself to Team Leader Woo as well.”
“We’d be happy to, Vice President.”
Team Leader Seo approached with a bright smile.
While she shook hands with Team Leader Woo, Eunjae was pushed deep into the corner and quietly despaired.
At this point, she thought it would actually be more comfortable to work through lunch.
“I’d really like everyone to attend. Please make sure you do.”
As though he had already seen through her thoughts, Taegeon added the words clearly, accompanied by a meaningful smile.
The team members returned to their seats, cheering inwardly, while Eunjae sank helplessly into her chair.
Moon Assistant Manager approached her and lightly tapped her shoulder.
“Aren’t you excited that our lunch break is going to be longer, Assistant Manager Han?”
“Ah, yes…”
“Wait, Assistant Manager Han, what’s wrong? Is your stomach bothering you again? You look…”
Moon Assistant Manager looked at her worriedly.
At that moment, a brilliant idea popped into Eunjae’s head.
She clutched her stomach and desperately nodded.
“Ugh, my stomach is acting up again! I think I’m going to have to skip lunch today…”
“Excuse me, what’s going on over there?”
Just as she was desperately searching for a way to escape, someone poked his head above the partition and asked.
As expected, it was Joo Taegeon.
